Day started normally enough. Was up at 0430... couldn't sleep 'cause I'd taken a nap late in the afternoon in order to make a couple of conference calls with the US/CA last night at 2200. So, got up to finish packing and catch up on e-mail - even got a skype call in to Rosie back in Jersey. :-) Before my conference call I decided to go down to the McDonald's by Shinagawa Train Station to buy some coffee and a breakfast bundle - just to check out what it would be like. :-) Well, it's looks like a McD's but, not quite like McD's in the US... tailored more to the Japanese commuter. I ordered the largest coffee and it was like a 12oz cup - disappointing. Not a wide selection of breakfast sandwiches. Bought a numbered meal and, to make a long story shorter, I ate it in my room with a hash brown (the best part of the breakfast!) - ended up giving me indigestion! No more McD's in Tokyo.
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| McDonald's across from Shinagawa Station |
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| Some of the morning menu selections |
Today, after an all hands conference call for APJ with my America's leadership team from 0915 to 1100, Hiro was going out of his way to come pick me up and take me around some before heading back to Narita for my flight later in the evening to Sydney via Cairns.
The conference call finished at 1100. Made a few calls back to the US including one to my boss, Will, to do some coordination before checking out of the hotel at 12 noon and shutting down for the day.
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| Lobby area, Grand Prince New Takanawa Hotel |
One checks out with the 'cashier' here in the hotel, not with check-in desk. Approximately 157,000Yen later, I had checked out of my room and took a seat in the lobby to wait for Hiro to arrive - he did at around 1245. Packed up my luggage and we headed out on an errand of love... search for and find Totoro gradu for my daughter, Meg! Hiro had done the legwork and discovered that there were very few places in Tokyo that dealt in Totoro merchandise. In fact the only place he found, that we were headed towards, was somewhere in Tokyo Train Station near the Emperor's Palace.
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| Drive by shot of the Emperor's residence near Tokyo Station |
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| Old Tokyo Tower |
Hiro, bless his heart, is a suburbanite and doesn't have a big clue about getting around Tokyo - very understandable - but, does use his iPhone to GPS around and we eventually found our way to the station. He told me the last time he'd been this deep in Tokyo was over 6 years ago when I was in town. Parked and took a stroll into the station - it's HUGE and multi-leveled with all kinds of stores and vendors selling all types of stuff. Unlike myself, he actually asked someone in the station for directions to the Totoro store and, lo and behold, we found it quickly.
Just a cute little enclave dedicated to most things Hiyo Miyazaki... Meg would have been in heaven. Tons of stuff on not just Totoro but other Miyazaki movies too. In and out in 15mins with a pretty good collection of that cute cat? At least I think Totoro is a cat. :-). So, back out of the station to head to target destination 2... Hard Rock Cafe, Tokyo, in the Roppongi area of Tokyo.
Hey, just had to do it!! :-)
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| HR Cafe in back and store up front, Roppongi District |
With the help of Hiro's iPhone, we found the HRCafe and Store. Hiro and I had actually been to this location over 6 years ago when I visited on holiday. In fact my good Army bud, Chuck, was doing some work in Tokyo at the time and we hooked up with him and spent a nice evening at the Cafe having an American dinner. Of course our memories of the HRC were fuzzy at best since we got there in the evening and couldn't see much. On this day we passed right by it in the daylight and had to ask someone where it was. Hiro waited in the car and I dashed in to get some pins and a t-shirt.
I was once again pleased with the day so far. Hiro was the 'gamer' that enabled my foray into Tokyo and I appreciated it and him!
It was right at 1415 by this time and we decided to start heading to the airport keeping our eyes open for an opportunity to get a bite to eat. Hiro decided to take the back roads in order to avoid some significant traffic on the toll roads. Was a bit slower but fairly quick between lights. We never did find an easy, convenient place to get chow so, we decided just to continue on to Narita.
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| On to Narita |
In retrospect it would turn out to be a good decision.
2045 - Somewhere over the Pacific heading south, enroute to Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Had to take a break from blogging to board JetStar's Airbus A330-200, a large aircraft comparable to the 777-200. Over 55 rows with an odd seating configuration: 2 x 4 x 2 in coach. I'm in 56D and my entire row is empty. Thank you god of airplane seating!
So, where was I?
Got to the airport, terminal 2, at 1600. Hiro dropped me off at ticketing and he went off to park. Inside the terminal things were a bit slow, so slow in fact, that the JAL agents representing Qantas were not entertaining early birds for check-in before 1700. So, when Hiro joined me, we went up to the 2nd deck and I treated him to an early dinner of Japanese food - oishi! Was the least I could do for all his efforts and I would need them even more once we began check-in!
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| Terminal 2 entrance, Narita International Airport |
As the clock approached 1700, Hiro noticed that we were queued up in the wrong ticketing area. We had to walk a long ways down to the 'A' ticketing counters from 'N' ticketing counters - quite the hike! Queued up there with, not Qantas, but one of their partners, JetStar. Oh, well. These ticketing lines didn't open up until 1710, precisely. Also, staffed by JAL folks.
alot... Qantas/JetStar/JAL hit me up for 1,500Yen a kg, 21,000Yen! WOW!
Well, as I broke out my Corp Credit Card to pay for the overage, I was told that they did not accept AMEX. No problem, handed over my MasterCard. Then, as in Beijing, I was informed that I would need to pay for my overage at a separate counter... ok, still no problem. More intense typing and peering at the computer screen and multiple swipes of my passport. Finally, the JAL attendant asks me where my VISA to Australia is? Excuse me? You require a VISA to enter Australia, she repeats... chotto motte kudasai, I do not, I declare. We go back and forth. I state that my VISA/Passport firm, CIBT, via their website - I checked before I left - and I called them also, to ask whether I needed a VISA to enter Australia - NO, each time. I insist I don't require a VISA to enter Australia - getting a bit irritated/worried now. The attendant finally gets up and goes and confers with others for a good 10minutes. She comes back and states once again that anyone entering Australia or New Zealand must have a VISA. I'm starting to get a bit chapped... I ask Hiro to run interference for me and get to the root of the disconnect. They go back and check CIBT's website... well, I'll be damned, they walk back with a CIBT quick reference sheet that states I need a VISA!! I wasn't pleased and my irritation and slight embarrassment were being rationalized towards the JAL person, when it should have been vented onto CIBT. I plan on giving CIBT a piece of my mind via e-mail and voice when I get back!!!
I was now quite concerned that I'd be stuck in Japan, miss my flight with no idea of when I could get this resolved with CIBT... Hiro to the rescue!
After talking with the JAL attendant, Hiro finds out that you can purchase a VISA right there in the airport for entry into Australia! Amazing I thought and was quite relieved and irritated at the same time. Had the JAL attendant told me that tidbit of information up front, the fact that I needed a VISA and could purchase one in the airport, I wouldn't have gotten so riled up. In her defence she may have tried to tell me that but, I didn't hear it and had Hiro not been there to work through the problem in Japanese with her, I might still be in Narita trying to figure out what to do next!
Anyway, we had to hike back quite a ways to a small, tucked out of the way ticket counter staffed by 2 JAL employees. No line. They knew exactly what to do. I had to pay them ~3150Yen to purchase the VISA, a business one, in cash - so I did. The VISAs good for a year. Don't know if I'll ever use it again once I leave Australia in a week. Asked for a receipt and was told that that would take about 10mins to produce - not sure why - so, Hiro and I headed back to the 'A' ticket counter to resume check-in.
Got a completely different attendant this time. She spoke much better English and seemed to know more about the process than the first attendant I worked with. Not sure how she managed it but, she said I really only needed to pay 16,500Yen and not 21,000Yen for my excess luggage. Cool! Even though I'll be reimbursed by the company for the excess luggage fee, this change of price made me feel better, like I got a good deal - even if I had to pay with my personal credit card. Irrational, I know. :-) She finished my check-in process, handed over my 2 boarding passes (aisle rows in the back of the jets) and checked luggage tags, through to Sydney and then, even walked us over to the counter where I needed to pay for my excess luggage... quite nice of her. Paid, got a receipt and walked over to the VISA purchasing area to get my VISA receipt.
This almost nightmare of an experience was over and I wasn't going to miss my flight!
Domo arigato gozaimasu, Hiro-san!
Walked over to the start of customs and bid my farewell to Hiro. I hope to see him and his again very soon. Reiko had purchased me a gift of a large bottle of saki - which Hiro had with him - but, I really have no room for it in my luggage and asked him to apologize for me and to tell her I'd be back for it! :-)
There's an initial screening just to get into the ticketed passenger area. Security follows and it's fairly easy and straight forward. Empty your pockets, take out your laptops and walk through. From there over to customs where they reclaim your departure stub and stamp passports.
You have to take a shuttle train to Gate 87 area. Takes a couple of minutes max and you're in the gate terminal. Gate 87 was near the far end of this portion of the terminal... no worries, I had plenty of time to walk there, sit and start blogging. Bought a soft vanilla ice cream cone and coke before I went to sit at the gate.
After I stopped blogging and looked up, there was a young, obviously American couple sitting across from me in the waiting area. The guy had on a Michigan hat and shirt and his blond companion, believe his wife, were chuckling at something on this laptop. I struck up a conversation and turns out that he works for Boeing as a structural engineer and was in Japan on an extended gig working with Mitsubishi, they are a sub-contractor for Boeing, on the wing-box of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. They lived in Nagoya and had been in Japan for the past year and would be there for another couple or so. They were just taking some of their paid time-off to visit Australia. They'll be jumping off at Cairns and continuing to Sydney in a week. Nice couple and it was fun talking airplanes and stress testing with the young man.
OK, believe this covers my day! :-) Had to get this down for lessons learned and the value of having a Japanese cousin that works in the aviation business!
More later...
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